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Androvett Blog

by Robert Tharp at 2:32:08 pm

Day Care Attorney Jeff Rasansky: Following choking death at Dallas day care, flow of information slow and unsatisfying

When 2-year-old Isabella Estep collapsed inside the northeast Dallas daycare center she attended in October 2008, precious minutes passed before anyone noticed her unconscious body. Isabella had choked on a small rock and died after an estimated 5 to 10 minutes passed before anyone in the room realized she was in distress. Details have emerged slowly about what happened inside the Woodbridge Day School. Investigators now say that the adult in charge of Isabella's classroom, Mia Jennings, did not have the required first-aid training and did not even have a high school diploma - details that school owners' Robert Hall and Neyse Hall were aware of when they hired her.

Perhaps more distressing, parents of children thinking about sending their young children to the school today have no way of learning about what happened at the day care center. That's because the business was quickly sold after Isabella's death, so records about the incident are not listed on a statewide database that is used by parents when selecting a day care facility. "I'm angry and I'm still a little confused about what happened," Isabella's mother, 25-year-old Marcelina Osorio, told the Dallas Morning News. "It still doesn't make sense to me."

Last week, attorneys from Dallas' Rasansky Law Firm filed a lawsuit on behalf of Isabella's mother, charging that the day care failed to provide the minimum degree of competency and good judgment as required by state law. "The response from this day care center has been pitifully lacking from the beginning of this terrible tragedy," says attorney Jeff Rasansky. "They have not been truthful about their role in this child's death, and they have taken steps to prevent parents of other children from ever learning about their involvement."